Imperfecto

For an absolutely brilliant (and entertaining) analysis of the Pistons' surprising road win over the Magic last night, check out PistonPowered.com. It was a strange game in which the Pistons displayed poise and clutch-shooting often lacking the past two seasons. Late in the 4th quarter, with the Magic about to seize control of the game, Austin Daye hit a deep 3-pointer that seemed to signal this Piston team would not go quietly. Those moments of defiance have been few and far between this season, so it would be wise to cherish this one.

Tiger no more

In other developments, the Tigers traded Armando "Imperfecto" Galarraga to Arizona yesterday, in exchange for two low-level prospects. Earlier this month, the Tigers signed oft-injured pitcher Brad Penny, which made Galarraga expendable. With Verlander, Scherzer, Porcello, Phil Coke, and Penny as the five starting pitchers, the only options for Galarraga were to accept a bullpen role or get traded. Galarraga was out of options, so hanging at Toledo until Penny (or Porcello) got hurt was not possible. So, instead of exposing him to waivers, Dombrowski at least picked up two minor league pitchers - Kevin Eichhorn and Ryan Robowski. Eichhorn is the more prized of the two players, but his prospects of gracing Comerica are limited. At the rookie-level (lower than Single-A) last season, Eichhorn pitched 74 innings, sporting a solid 1.2 WHIP. His ERA wasn't spectacular at 4.9, but I did like that he only walked 15 batters. He struggled when he moved up to the Single-A level. He's 20 years old, so the jury is still out.

As for Galarraga, it's a rather sad end to an up-and-down career as a Tiger. He burst on the scene in 2008, winning 13 games and posting a sub-4.0 ERA. He was the lone bright spot in an otherwise disappointing season. Yet, he never regained that '08 form. Leyland regularly accused Galarraga of trying to aim the ball, instead of challenging the hitter. Pitching inside was definitely a trademark of his '08 success, but it's also possible that hitters figured him out.

Of course, not a single hitter figured him out that fateful game last season. He mowed down 28 straight batters, allowing just that one faulty hit. The "imperfect" game illustrated Galarraga's potential. Yet, the rest of the season illustrated his inconsistency. The imperfect game was one of only 4 wins all season. He finished with an ugly 4-9 record and a fair 4.5 ERA.

From a statistical standpoint, picking Brad Penny over Galarraga makes sense. Penny is a former All-star, with a career ERA of 4.11. The risk is that Penny pitched just 55 innings in 2010. 94 innings in 2008. The year in-between, 2009, was anything but a success. For both the Red Sox and Giants combined, Penny pitched 173 innings with a 4.88 ERA. The hope, however, is that Penny displays the form of '06 and '07 when he won 16 games each year. In '07, he posted a sterling 3.03 ERA. Penny is indeed a risk, but, as the 5th starter, he's worth it.

Perhaps the bigger risk is Phil Coke. Coke doesn't have the injury history of Penny, but he's never served as a regular starter in the majors. It's an enormous assumption that he'll be able to simply take the mantle of 4th starter. In an ideal world, I'm sure Dombrowski would've preferred to have Galarraga as a backup in case either Coke or Penny faltered. And Porcello is no sure thing either. How often do teams use the same five starters the entire season?

Without Galarraga, Dombrowski is gambling on up-and-comers like Jacob Turner and Andrew Oliver to serve as the fill-ins. I doubt this Galarraga trade will make-or-break the season, but it's just a bit strange seeing a pitching-hungry team trade a semi-reliable arm.

28 straight

Poor Armando Galarraga. By now, the entire country (and Venezuela) has heard of Armando Galarraga's perfect game. The young man mowed down 26 straight Cleveland batters. Just one agonizing out stood between Galarraga and baseball immortality.

Jason Donald hit a sharp grounder between 1st and 2nd. Cabrera made a play on the ball, fielded it perfectly and whipped a throw to Galarraga covering first. Now, Jason Donald possesses some speed, and he was doing his best to ruin Galarraga's perfect evening. Galarraga and Donald converged on first base. Galarraga caught Cabrera's throw and let out a shout of joy, as did Cabrera. But it was quickly halted when umpire Jim Joyce ruled that Donald was safe. The only person seemingly happy with that call was Jason Donald ("sweet! a single!"). I noticed Cleveland pitcher Jake Westbrook in the background, looking pretty shocked and saddened when the call went down. Galarraga stared at Joyce with a forced smile, as if to say, "Really? You're taking this away from me?" Cabrera was less graceful. He lit into Joyce with a flurry of barbs that lasted throughout the next at-bat, which was, mercifully, an out. The 28th out of the game. For replays proved that Jason Donald was indeed out, and it wasn't that close. Watch for yourself:

Watching from TV, it seemed too close to call. Yet umpires have that precious ability to discern the correct call with split-second accuracy. Umpires are the gold standard in the officiating profession. And they're also human, as was proved by Joyce's gaffe.

As the players left the field, Jim Leyland confronted Jim Joyce and picked up where Cabrera left off. Leyland desperately wanted the perfect game for his boy Galarraga. But the deed was done. Donald was "safe." It will go into the record books as a one-hitter. The saddest one-hitter in the history of Major League Baseball.

The epilogue to this story is that Joyce later called Galarraga into the umpire's room. Joyce had seen the replay. With tears in his eyes, Joyce apologized.

I'm not one bit surprised by this. MLB umpires live by a code of integrity that's shockingly absent from today's sports. They're old fashioned in the best of sense. They take issues of right/wrong to heart. They pride themselves on being the best and hold themselves to that standard. For Joyce to make that glorious gaffe would be more painful to him than Galarraga. As a Tiger fan, I say you're forgiven, Mr. Joyce. Galarraga's night will be somewhat tarnished, but to err is human... even on a perfect night.